The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection by John W. Dannreuther, Professional Coin Gradi (2004)

Very helpful literature and photos. Book recommended by a friend who buys and sells coins as a hobby. I don't think i use another book as much for many different reasons

The book is on overall decent book but nothing great about it. Seems to go to many different directions ,and there are alot better books out there on the subjects. I would strongly suggest ANA Grading Guide if you are wanting to learn more about coin grading.
Thanks,
Ben Mason (www-CollectorsCove-net)

Overall a good book. More pictures would be my call on this one.
Pictures are the best teaching tool for grading and counterfeit detection.
The pictures are good.... just need more of them.
For the 1893 S Morgan (and it's lofty price) I would have liked to see a bunch of pictures for counterfeits and grading... A whole chapter of pictures would have been great (you could use them for other dates in the series also).
Overall good read, and we use it in our shop quite often.
coiNuts

The Second Edition, a collaborative effort of PCGS and Random House, was written by a number of important contributors that numismatic maverick Scott Travers assembled and edited into a book.

The guide has much valuable information (tidbit type) interspersed amongst pages of fluff. It is written - in a cut and paste style - making it hard to follow and learn about a specific series and the salient aspects of its issues. It should not be an excuse for not purchasing the official ANA grading guide, Halperin's older but excellent book on mint state coin grading, those series specialty books that a collector should have as a reference to their area(s) of interest or Breen's classic Encyclopedia. Pictures are mostly black and white, cropped often (especially in the counterfeit detection section) where important info is lost. The color photo section is on quality glossy paper, but impractical for the majority of collectors as it shows mostly brag type proof gold coins. The book has some excellent info on the minting process, die and planchet prep and the subtleties of problems that occur with same - all-important for grading of mint state coins where defects and inconsistencies are evident and enter into the grading equation. This of course, has not been addressed together in a book format before and this is where its primary value lies. The book seems to be written for collectors/investors of brag type coins of pedigree and mint state coins - where much of the text dwells - in the hair splitting determination of differentiating high-grades.

The coin forgery detection area is mostly an introductory type written from a numismatic perspective and not from a forensic numismatic point of view. Suitable only for the novice, with dated and other commonly available info, and only helpful in detecting a few well known forgeries like the '09-S VDB or '16-D Merc., etc. is still far from being a helpful reference as there are forgeries of these that are not shown nor described. Absolutely nothing is devoted to the US Trade Dollar. I find this especially alarming since eBay has become a major venue of forgers of these coins. Furthermore, nothing about the techniques in making counterfeit coins nor diagnostics in detecting is mentioned - all suggesting as if revealing such info would be like a breach in 'coin industry' trade secrets. I find this inconsistency alarming, since the grading section of the book is replete with info about coin manufacturing. When it comes to counterfeit detection what is not said is usually more important than what is said. The authors dwell mostly on well-known transfer die and electro-spark erosion types. Some info on the Bay area counterfeits is addressed and there are some good pictures of these included.

The glossary section is excellent. The book seems to be a marketing ploy for PCGS to enhance credibility in a coin market now over-run with abc grading companies. It has been a freebee to the collector for joining PCGS...do you think they would really give away the secrets of the temple? When it comes to grading - I'll still reach for my ANA guide first. When it comes to counterfeit detection - I'll most likely need more info from other experts or will be forced to seek the advice of credible third party authentication experts - which is probably what PCGS wants.